Provided by RoadKill Kaily
Audio By Carbonatix
At a time when Arizona’s festival scene is dominated by big-budget extravaganzas, one DIY event proves impact doesn’t require a huge bankroll. This weekend’s Mess Fest in Phoenix is a two-day punk and metal festival that prioritizes community over corporate-backed sponsors.
Event organizer RoadKill Kaily says that’s the festival’s identity. “It’s all DIY. There’s no corporate backing. There’s no sponsorship. It’s all just community, underground type stuff,” she says.
The all-ages festival at north Phoenix’s Ground Zero Studios isn’t just raw and do-it-yourself. It’s also loud, described by Kaily as “a face-melting blast.”
“If you’re into this kind of music, it makes sense,” she says. “It’s all blast beats and noise. Loud and extreme.”
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Mess Fest II takes place on Friday and Saturday with 20 different bands from across the Southwest representing a variety of flavors of metal and punk.
“It’s many different subgenres. You’ve got grind, crust, hardcore, power violence (and more),” she says. “That’s why we call it Mess Fest, because it’s a bunch of different styles under the punk metal umbrella. It brings people together that are into all these sounds. It’s exciting. It’s awesome.”
Friday’s lineup includes music from bands like Jugular Slice, Ends Embrace, Nooses, Mosara, Necrambulant, Big Gulp, Plunge, Kthulu and Coaccion. Saturday features sets by Life’s Torment, Axe Collectors, G.A.S.M., Poison Tribe, Dismay, High On Formadehyde, and L.A. doom metal act Mourn.
Michelle Albert
The vendors at Mess Fest II are also extreme. Local food truck Last Rite Tacos, known for its horror-themed eats, will be at the event. Phoenix’s Olla Olla Crepes will also have food available for purchase.
“We’re also going to have art vendors,” Kaily says. “It’s just bringing the community together to have a good time.”
It’s the same M.O. of the original Mess Fest in 2024.
Provided by RoadKill Kaily
‘A celebration of underground punk and metal’
Kaily says she launched Mess Fest in 2024 to spotlight local artists. “It initially (was) just supposed to be like a celebration of underground punk and metal from all over Arizona,” she says. “Kind of old bands as well as new bands. My emphasis is on wanting to do an all-ages music festival. So bands that normally wouldn’t be at all ages shows are going to see the younger bands.”
The first Mess Fest “went off” with 20 bands from Arizona, Texas and California playing the two-day event at Ground Zero.
“I even had a buddy fly down from Seattle to play. I had vendors, food, art vendors and everything. It turned out really rad.”
She compares it to Southwest Terror Fest, a now-defunct local metal festival from the 2010s that featured bands from multiple states.
Kaily wanted to do things “a little different” with this year’s Mess Fest.
“I wasn’t even sure I was going to do a fest, but I had bands from out of town asking me if I was going to put on another one because last year’s was so great. They wanted to get in on it. So this year, we put together another event with bands from New Mexico, Colorado, and Mexico. We opened things up and are going all out.”
Mess Fest II. 5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15, at Ground Zero Studios, 9850 N. 19th Drive. Tickets are $22 each day and $32 for the weekend.
